Following application to revoke registration of potato variety used for Lays chips
Food and beverage giant PepsiCo India has been slapped with a notice from a central agency under the Agriculture Ministry regarding an application to revoke the registration of its potato variety used to make its trademark Lays chips.
The application was filed by Kavitha Kuruganti, a convenor of the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture. The notice, which The Hindu has viewed, was issued by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority on June 17. The company has been given three months to respond.
“We are studying the notice and will be responding to it appropriately,” a PepsiCo spokesperson told The Hindu.
According to sources the application to revoke PepsiCo’s registration argues that the firm violated Section 39 (1) (iv) clause of the PPV&FRA [the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001] when it sued the Gujarat potato farmers.
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